Divine Deception

Blood Royale #2

by Elle Mae

Blurb and cover coming soon!

Genres: Lesbian, Fantasy, Romance, Vampires, LGBT, Dark Romance, Queer

294 pages, Paperback

Published March 6, 2025

About the author

Also writes under Eden Emory.

Reviews

[Emé Stölting · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elle Mae is so hit or miss. This could have been really great if it weren't for really obvious editing errors. I'm talking wrong names. Wrong POV chapter headings. Plot points that come out of nowhere. It felt like a first draft.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this sequel, especially considering its promising build-up of angst, emotional conflict, and the kind of sexual tension that keeps you flipping pages late into the night in the first book. The initial dynamic between the characters was rich with chemistry, the unspoken desires crackling in the air. But once the polyamorous relationship was introduced, something shifted, and it became boring to read.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I genuinely enjoyed this second installment. The writing is engaging, and the characters continue to evolve in interesting ways. However, I can’t help but feel that the plot is stretching itself a little too thin—almost as if the story is being prolonged deliberately for yet another sequel (or more).

While I appreciate the author’s effort and imagination, I personally feel satisfied stopping here Although the events are not over yet. Sometimes it’s better to part ways with a story while the experience is still warm rather than wait for it to wear out.

So yes, I liked this book—but Think I won’t be continuing with the series.

And that’s okay.

[y 💞 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when I thought Elle Mae's books couldn't get any better I read this one. OH MY GAAAAAWD. Aurelia is actually my wife idc what anyone says. AND THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN AURELIA AND CEDAR. EEEEEEEEE. I absolutely love Cedar my babygirl deserves nothing but the best

[Roland The Bookspren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tendré más cuidado con leer lo que me sale en tiktok 🙏

Sin entrar en muchos detalles, sentí la historia (en general) muy forzada. Empezando por la relación poliamorosa con Cedar, hasta la revelación de que Aurelia tiene un hermano

La sociedad de las brujas tenía tanto potencial, pero terminó siendo bastante similar a la de los vampiros. Son crueles, solo ven los beneficios, conspiran, tienen muchos secretos... El líder, cómo no, era un hombre. ¿¿¿Por qué todos los hombres en estas novelas son estúpidos o malvados???

En el apartado spicy, sin embargo... Damn, solo por eso le daba 4 estrellas, y 3 al anterior libro

Simplemente, no soy parte del público objetivo

[Nyki Mancera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dunno…

…how I truly feel about this book in the series. For one, it seemed like too much was going on and at the same time, it was so slow in so many places. I am not sure if that it is it. Vesper and Aurelia in the first book in the first book seemed to obsessed with each other and fought those feelings while being besieged with Vesper trying to fulfill her calling, her destiny for the prophecy foretold.

Aurelia and Vesper both come from a tremendously abusive family. While Vesper is also brainwashed. And the Princess is a spoiled and entitled brat, to be sure. I didn’t like in all the ways that their love was manifesting, it was what I call “messy.” But I was drawn to their heat and their passion.

Vampires are usually strong, impulsive, possessive, obsessive and territorial. But when it comes to affairs of the heart and bonds…it is forever and typically exclusive. They don’t know how to share that one person. So, most only have that “one” person. And that is what I thought was happening with Vesper and Aurelia.

We were introduced to Cedar in the first book. She was always on the periphery. In this book she plays an even bigger role. So much so that we see the author forcing her into this relationship. And it just didn’t seem to work. It was a lot of work on the author’s part to try to make her meld into this relationship. I felt “wrong.” She had the wrong temperament. I didn’t like her character from the very beginning.

And the fact that she fell for Vesper. I am not sure how that was even possible. Then you notice that her and Aurelia are starting to have some common interests into one another. And watching it all unfold was just very cringe for me. Say what you will, Vesper cheated. There is no other way around it. I found her character lacking. She was deceitful. She was a bit shady. She wasn’t always truthful when she should have been. And she didn’t appear to be very bright a lot of the times. She was weak-willed and got them into more dangerous situations and caused more problems. I mean…a submissive lying cheating hunter?

Aurelia became a weak and ineffective vampire to me. Almost similar to what happened to Keir when she met Sylvia. They went from strong and practically invincible to weak. Both allowed someone else to take the throne from them that they had been prepped for their entire lives.

I got so tired about hearing about Aurelia’s mother. After a while, I just didn’t care. We wound up with a powerless vampire, a submissive and not so sharp vampire hunter, and a hanger-oner witch with strong powers, but often powerless when needed the most. This “throuple” thing ruined the essence of a good vampire, made the lying vampire hunter a lowly cheat, and once interesting powerful witch a third wheel. It would be better off it Vesper goes off with the witch and Aurelia pairs up with Atlas. She is far more interesting and better fitted for a spoiled and dethroned Princess. Maybe that will see the vampires with some backbone and being more true to the vampire’s nature.

I am dreading the next book and may just pass. I couldn’t stomach most of this book. And now the prophecy is just whack. Not even this new secret that has been revealed helped to make this book interesting. I am no longer married to the MC’s having a HEA. It went from wonderful to “meh.” In a world full of lies, conspiracies, forced encounters, abuses of all kinds…I expected a little bit more from the MC’s in order to contrast some of that. At least be LOYAL and share a true bond.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I've read almost every other book by Elle Mae and they are all amazing. The story or Vesper, Auralia, and Cedar continues in the best way. I love how they all come together and realize their feelings for each other. The back and forth between the 3 was great. You can tell just how much they all care for each other and yet try to fight those feelings. Getting to see those feelings be shared and finally have something be done about it was so satisfying. I love when a book can draw you in on multiple fronts. I loved the relationship side of the book and getting to see the 3 of them together but the main story was solid. You get to learn so much more about Cedar and the witch side of things but there are still so many things realized about what's going on in Vesper and Auralia's lives too. The ending had me devastated in the best possible way...again. I already can't wait for book 3 to come out and see what's going to happen next.
If you like vampires/hunters, witches, magicky stuff, spicy scenes, and really BA female characters then this series needs to be read!

[Noe · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75⭐️

[Ares Amon · Rating 5 out of 5]

😩

Just a heads up there will be spoilers ahead. And I’m sorry for how long this review is.

So I’ll start off by saying I love this author and so far I enjoy this series and can’t wait for the third book that I already have preordered.

Here’s where I have some issues, first I enjoy a good poly sapphic book because I feel like there aren’t too many. But I have an issue with the dynamic in this book. From start to finish the book seems 80% about vesper and cedars building relationship and how they want each other. There are moments where they almost kiss but it’s always made known how much cedar cares and wants vesper and is willing to go out of her way to fight and protect her. There’s a moment in the book where it’s unclear if the three agree to be together but next chapter vesper and cedar are at it in the forest while the princess is locked in a cabin by herself for hours on end alone wondering why her BLOOD BONDED partner keeps leaving her to go spend time with cedar just for the vesper to come home and lie to her about where she was and what she was doing. If the princess didn’t feel it in the bond I don’t think vesper would have told her. Not to mention you don’t see a relationship build between the princess and cedar, they barely spend time together for half the book but somehow they have a connection? It seems like a forced connection because of vesper. The princess wants vesper but so does cedar , but vesper also wants cedar so the princess allows it and somehow that grows a strong bond between them but you never see cedar spend time with the princess or talk about how deeply she cares for the princess or would do anything for her like she does for vesper. There’s times where cedar says how deeply she cares and would do anything for vesper and then the princess is added as an after thought. There were moments I wanted to skip chapters with cedar and vesper because their growing relationship just didn’t seem right without the princess actually building a relationship with cedar. Even at the end of the book I was hoping to see more scenes maybe with cedar and the princess but the nice cute moments are always cedar and vesper. At the end you see a little bit more of cedar caring for the princess but it’s just not enough for the poly relationship to make enough sense for me. Maybe the final book will bring it together more but so far I’m a little skeptical about this.

[erin | sinfulshelves · Rating 5 out of 5]

highly anticipated sequel to Eternal Captive 🥀🩸 - 5/5 stars review below 👇

𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.

🩸🥀 || 𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆
⚠︎ check TWs | 18+ content ⚠︎

📖 Divine Deception by Elle Mae
Star Rating: 5/5 ★★★★★
Spice Rating: 2.5/5 🌶️🌶️
Spice Frequency: 1.5/5 🔥.5
POV: Multi/1st
Couple: Aurelia x Vesper x Cedar
available on KU ✅

⚠️ Tropes Below - Spoilers Possible ⚠️

• fff romance / throuple (human x vampire x witch)
• enemies to lovers
• bl00d bonds
• cvlt aspects
• begging
• book two in a trilogy
• sub masc

AHHH I’m so flipping happy to be back in this universe. I DEVOURED Eternal Captive and Divine Deception was the SAME WAY. I could not put it down! I just love Aurelia and Vesper so freaking much, but add in Cedar and it’s swoon city. I’m obsessed in an unhealthy way. I loved this book SO MUCH. The spice was yummy, the world building & character development were top notch, and the plot kept me enthralled the entire time.

I don’t want to say too much about this because I don’t want to spoil anything but just know, if you’re wondering if you should continue the series by reading Divine Deception, the answer is 10000% yes. I’m a huge fan of Elle Mae/Eden Emory and I’ll recommend her books to literally everyone. I can’t wait for book three 😩

Thank you Elle for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am writing this review voluntarily. ☺️

[Madds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second book in the series, and it’s a pretty intense start! I enjoyed the story for the most part and love the dynamic between the three of them.

There were some parts that just didn’t make sense to me and maybe I’m missing something? But why is her brother and his rogues attacking the coven/ after Aurelia, only to walk away when they come face to face? I also kept getting the impression that the coven also wanted Aurelia dead but only by means of the prophecy so why not “help” Vesper in doing that? And why offer protection to begin with when they could have locked them up the entire time and hand them over/ arrange for Aurelia’s death?

Aurelia also has potential to be more of a badass and she’s not really doing all that much in terms of fighting. Maybe it’s just my personal preference and not how her character is intended but I’m holding out hope by this next book that we will see her do more when it comes to an actual fight.

Still loved this book all in all and am excited for the third 😭❤️

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than the first, eager for the third

I couldn't put this one down. I knew I'd be in for a treat after being enthralled by the first, but I really wasn't ready. I'm polyamorous and seeing the poly representation here was indescribable. Vesper and Aurelia easily fit Cedar into their dynamic, and she really does round them out in a way I didn't expect. Mae matches the tone of the first, keeping the girls on their toes and submerging the whole story under consistent tension you're just waiting to watch snap.

I couldn't get enough of this, and can't wait for the third. All I want is a happy ending for our girls. But whatever happens, I know Mae will deliver an astounding narrative with desperation, tension, and plenty of sex. She's done a magnificent job setting the stage for a truly bombastic final act. I know I'll love as much as the first two.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was well-written and all the individual scenes were enjoyable. But I found myself a little frustrated that I wasn’t convinced it made sense for them to be hanging out in the coven for so long. Late in their stay things picked up and this was more like a 5-star read… (I mean, other than, I can’t really agree with Aurelia on what she thinks is going to get them out of this!) I just needed it to feel less like aimlessly killing time earlier on I guess. And maybe more consistency between witches who can instantly disable anyone at any time with magical vines, and witches who can be totally be taken by surprise and are completely defenseless against hostile vampires. I’m ready for our main characters to start kicking ass instead of wandering around from place to place hoping somebody else will protect them!

[JLK · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

I feel the same about this one that I did in the first book. Maybe a little worse with this one.

Pacing still rushed, but the action was entertaining. The mysteries and secrets everyone keeps gets a little muddled because of how much it occurs. The whole plot gets confusing because of it.

There 3 FMC and they are bonded. It turns into a threesome pretty quickly and no real transition of a naturally occurring love forming, especially with how much hate two held for the third throughout the whole first book and first half of this one.

The characters and their behavior during spicy scenes didn't match their personalities at all. It was as if it was made to be hot for the sake of being hot without keeping the tone and voice of the actual characters.

Cliffhanger ending again, but it was too short. The first 2 books could honestly be 1 book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this from the author, this review is of my own volition!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

This is the sequel to Eternal Captive so I really can’t say too much without spoiling it. HOWEVER, Our couple becoming a throuple was amazing!

Vesper is still our grumpy hunter,
Aurelia is our moody prissy princess,
And Cedar is our (seemingly aloof) witch. I love how their relationship came about so naturally, it didn’t feel forced at all. The way cedar deals with her realisation that oh I actually like like these two was *chef’s kiss*

THE SPICE SCENES HAVE ME IN A CHOKEHOLD!

All in all this was a great sequel! And I cannot wait for the third book because THAT ENDING?!?! ELLE WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME???

I have read and loved pretty much all of Elle’s books, like honestly one of my favourite authors of all time!

[Steph H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the dom/bratty princess🤣 she’s a diva, and how the masc one is basically everyone’s submissive b*🤣 the introduction to the witch added some spice but overall story wise, I’m unsure how it all fits together, I’ve forgotten names already so, the hunter the witch and the vamp is all I’ll reference👀

In book one, the hunter has a mission, and through grit and determination she carry’s out the mission, with enemies to lovers etc. So their story makes sense, however although the witch is in the previous book, she is a new addition to the now trupple, its not terrible, I’m just not seeing how. But again, not terrible. I just think for such a fierce enemies to lovers in book 1 there wouldn’t be room for a 3rd .. seems I’m mistaken.
I feel like book 1 had me more hooked than book 2, but again Elle is one of my favourite authors, so anything she writes is written gold anyway🤷🏻‍♀️

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I loved this sequel to Eternal Captive, while I thought Eternal Captive was a bit better the romance between Vesper, Aurelia and Cedar in this one was what really hooked me more than anything.

My favourite line by far
"Vesper was mine, but when the three of us were together it didn't feel like I was losing her, it felt like we gained the Witch...Adding her to us"

The ending though, I thought it was going to be ok until the last two chapters *cries* having to wait another year for their finale is going to be hard

[Amy Kyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many different thoughts on this. I mean, I loved it, but sometimes it didn't seem to flow very well. It highlighted the beginnings of a throuple relationship and in some ways it was written about really well and giving exposure to how there's no one way to have a relationship. But also sometimes something would happen that didn't really have any lead up to get you to that point. I do like the story overall but there are some odd bits. Lots of spice and gore as expected! Also loving/hating all these cliffhangers 😩😅

[Amy Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending? Vesper being a vampire? I need boundless vengeance!

I did notice a few mistakes in the book I.e mixed names and chapter names. But other than that it was such a fun read, I had to physically close the book and breathe before opening it so I don’t chuck it at my brother.

I remember when you asked on Patreon if you should make it poly and I was so excited and you knocked it out of the park (as a poly lesbian). I’m not ready for the next book.

[Serenity Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this book expecting a lot and I sort of disappointed myself, the beginning was good and I loved the build up and the plot with the relationship between characters and everything happening but 60% in I started having to push myself through it. it just started to get boring with the story starting to get confusing. but I stuck until the end and it got better. Aurelia STILL has so much potential and I hope she uses it in the third book.

[Zayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was always going to get messy for Aurelia, a vampire princess, Cedar, a witch, and Vesper, the vampire hunter sent to kill Aurelia, but who somehow fell deeply in love with her and gradually gaining affection toward the witch who saved their lives. Aurelia, the stony presence, seems actually okay with this development as long as Cin is aware she is her bonded' s first.

[lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the plot of this book. I loved the relationship and the smut. There was a lot of mistakes like one chapter said it was in vespers pov but it wasn’t it was in someone else’s. Also vesper was referred to as the silver haired vampire (before the reveal at the end).

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was vibing with this one more than the first we love to see a sapphic love triangle go poly but I regrettably have to dock a star for use of the phrase “golden orbs” I’m sorry we can’t be committing fanfic crimes without Some proportional penalty.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's deffo worth a read. There's no passion in the writing though. It feels monotone despite the different POVs. What should've been emotive just felt a little glossed over. There was no anticipation or build up to anything. Even the spice was short and sweet

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me tell you…. There is 3 persons involved. Hard to top that (pinch intended)
I recommend I haven’t notice the mistakes some people point out. And it was very catchy I totally feel they should make a show out of this. The gays would appreciate

[Devorah A. S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, I adoreee Elle Mae's writing, and the character evolution thru into this book from the prior is great, but I'm stiiill trying to figure out if this is a dif timepoint on the same line to the "Contract Bound" series, or only looks connected by basic idea?

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling

Second installment brings forth a third introduction to a love, lust and thrilling segments of Vampire, hunter and witch. All intertwined fulfilling their destiny.

[Tia :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️
I need the next book NOWWW😭

[Shazh76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dramatic

Dramatic second instalment in the series. Enjoyed it & some nice spice. Ends on a cliffhanger so can’t wait for the next in the series.

[Candace Aresfury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dammit! I didn’t know this was a trilogy so now I have to wait again…uggghh.